Shameful vote

Senators Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) have brought great shame on the commonwealth of Kentucky by voting AGAINST renewal of the Violence Against Women Act Feb. 12. I urge the citizens of this commonwealth to phone the offices of Senators McConnell and Paul and demand answers for this vote against our wives, sisters, mothers, and daughters.

They must be held accountable - at the ballot box if they respond to nothing else. Shame, senators, shame!

MICHAEL WESTMORELAND-WHITE

Louisville 40217 -

A cheap shot

That's it? That's all Nick Anderson has got? A cheap shot at Marco Rubio for taking a sip of water while making a speech? I thought Anderson would be above that. I was wrong.

If Rubio was a Democrat he and others would be screaming the usual mantra, "racism, pure and simple!"

D. A. SCHROEDER

Louisville 40219 -

Truth over secrecy

As a professor of ophthalmology at U of L since 1977, I must add an especially tragic note to the ongoing debate over child abuse in Kentucky. Shortly after my arrival, I examined a 40-year-old man who was totally blind in one eye and partially blind in the other, leaving him unable to read or drive.

Though previous examiners had told him he suffered from birth defects, I soon found a more ominous cause: The cruel scars in his eyes came not from nature or random chance, but from blunt trauma - the willful hand of man. Upon learning he was raised by a foster family, I asked if his original parents had ever abused him. This highly intelligent man realized the import of my question and burst into tears. "Oh, my God," he sobbed. "I knew they had beat me when I was little, but I didn't know they had beat me blind!"

The darkness that awaits our most unlucky children lies beyond our comprehension. Their wounds cry out for justice, and anyone who allows these things to happen commits a crime against humanity.

With respect to the current stranglehold on the records of child abuse: Which is the greater sin - a mistake that exposes private information to public scrutiny, or a redacted secret that allows more innocents to suffer at the hands of their tormentor?

Shame on those who champion secrecy over truth. Let them answer for the next victim.

JOHN GAMEL, M.D.

Louisville 40207 -

Tragic occurrences

While I support the dedicated work of Jill Seyfred, executive director of Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky, I was dismayed by a comment in her Courier-Journal opinion piece of Feb. 15. Seyfred stated, "We do not fully understand how to prevent these tragic occurrences."

I believe it is far more accurate to say that we as a society do not yet have the will to prevent these tragic occurrences.

As early as 1974-1977, with the establishment of the National CES Center out of the Children's Bureau in Washington, (National Center, Comprehensive Emergency Services for Children and Families in Crisis) research concluded the CES emergency service system would not only be cost effective but would also reduce the number of abused and neglected children including child fatalities and reduce the number of children in foster care.

Regretfully these programs and services have not been sustained. Family and children's services are always given the lowest priority legislatively and social programs have been drastically cut or eliminated for decades.

Children have no voice and no powerful lobby.

Let's establish the Child Fatality Review Panel and open the records. Let the public in to advocate for the programs we know work.